It's A Strange World
by EmmyGoldsworthy13
Summary: Clare and Eli spend the night on his trampoline. Clare will never underestimate wishing on an airplane ever again. One-Shot. R&R!


**Hey guys, sorry I haven't been updating my other fanfics, I've been sort of busy and not in the mood to write whenever I have time to. Here's this one-shot. Hopefully you'll like it? R&R, Please!**

"Isn't it strange?" My best friend said quietly as we laid down on the trampoline in his backyard, staring up at the stars.

"What's strange?" I questioned softly as I watched the stars, the sky completely still as the moon illuminated the trampoline. I stared at the blanket I was wrapped in, a lime green contrasting against the black blanket wrapped around Eli next to me. I played with the corner as I adjusted my head on the pillow it rested on, Eli doing the same as I waited for him to answer.

"It's an odd concept to think about." He said, pondering a second more. "It seems… _unreal _that we're looking up at space, and astronauts have been up there, exploring something unknown and mysterious." He concluded, and I pursed my lips as I turned my head towards him only to see that he'd done the same.

"It was a dream, a _want._ They just followed their dreams." I told him, and he smirked, his hair falling over his eyes a little bit, making me frown slightly as the emerald wasn't in full view.

"_One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." _He quoted, and I laughed quietly as I shook my head at him playfully. My eyes once again met the sky full of lights, glimmering and shining while they stayed completely still, and I wondered if it were possible for something to shine so bright on a dark summer night like this. "Hey, look." Eli said, pointing up to the sky to see a blinking moving light. "A shooting star." He said amusedly, and I giggled.

"That's an airplane, Elijah." I told him, and he scowled smirkedly at me as I used his full name.

"Let's just pretend." He suggested, and I smiled lightly.

"That's silly." I retorted softly, and he scoffed.

"It sure is. C'mon." He smiled and his gaze returned to the sky, landing on the rapidly blinking lights blending in with the bright yet dark canvas sky.

_I wish to find 'that someone' to fall in love with. _I wished mentally, closing my eyes as I did so. When my eyes once again met the dark night sky, I sighed, my eyelids becoming weighted down with exhaustion. I turned my head lazily to the side to see Eli already looking at me, an amused expression on his face.

"Did you make a wish?" He questioned, and I nodded with a sheepish smile before rolling my eyes at him mentally. He smirked. "So it wasn't so silly after all?"

"Oh, it was." I smiled, yawning in the process.

"Is someone tired?" He gave me a pointed look, and I shook my head.

"Nope." I said, popping the 'p', denying my grogginess. I turned back to the blanket of dark sky and focused on the moon, only a sliver but still shining so insanely bright. The glow illuminated us, the trampoline, everything around us. Every few seconds the chirp of insects could be heard, the noise like one outburst and then complete silence with the exception of mine and Eli's in sync breathing. I turned to look at Eli, seeing that he was fighting to stay awake as well, making me laugh softly as his eyelids would sink and then shoot back up when he realized he was falling asleep. He turned to the sound of my laughter, his green eyes barely visible under his weighted eyelids.

"What?" He questioned, and I shook my head as my eyes closed for a few seconds, reopening them, trying to stay awake to keep taking in the earth and all it's beauty. I wonder what it would look like from outer space, the moon, an undiscovered planet, a star. Maybe there's this new planet right under our nose, NASA seemingly unable to spot it. It's strange to think that something so iconic and vast isn't fully discovered. There's so much there, so much to be discovered, experimented, played with. Why isn't space fully recognized? When there's so much to choose from, why don't we know more, why don't we take the next step and hope for the best results?

"What are you thinking about?" Eli wondered aloud, his eyes closed as he breathed so deeply it was a wonder he wasn't asleep already.

"I was thinking about how space stretches on forever and ever, yet we aren't even able to spot a planet that could be right in front of us. I mean, why aren't we taking the next step to discovering something new to us, when we have the technology to do so? Why aren't we acting on it?" I rambled to him, the topic honestly getting to me every single time. He didn't reply or answer my question, and for a few minutes I assumed he'd fallen asleep. When he spoke suddenly, I wasn't expecting it.

"Sure, we as Americans have the technology to go into space and explore. Maybe they're scared, scared that if they send someone out there to venture into the unknown that they'll lose them. If they go any further, they could lose someone that they wouldn't have to lose if they just didn't take the risk at all. Better safe than sorry, right?" He glanced at me, considering all he just said and I wondered to myself if he was even talking about space or if he was hinting at something else. Part of me hoped that it was the second one.

"True. But if they go further and actually _take_ the risk, it could lead to so much more." I argued, this feeling in my gut telling me that I wasn't talking about space anymore.

"What if they take the risk, but it comes back and bites them in the ass?" Eli questioned, and I shrugged.

"How will you know if you don't take the risk? Sure, there's a chance it could end up badly. But it could also turn into something good, something that will lead to better things, will provide so much more." I retorted, my eyes shutting more and more in slight shifts every passing second.

"Why take the risk if it could possibly backfire? What if there's been a mess-up before, and they can't guarantee it won't happen again?" He played with his fingers when they intertwined over his chest, his eyes still closed.

"There's _always_ going to be a chance for failure. You just have to have enough optimism to hope for the succession, and then have enough determination to make it happen." I told him, almost positive that we weren't talking about space anymore. We were talking about _us._ My head kept getting foggier and foggier as my eyes finally closed shut, no matter how much I wanted to see where this conversation would lead to, hoping that it'd be worth it.

"_Clare? Did you hear me? Claaare-Bear…?" _I heard Eli's voice say, but I was already too far gone as reality drifted farther and farther away. The last thing I felt before I took off for cloud nine was strong hands pulling the blanket up to my neck, and even if I was already unconscious, it still gave me enough comfort to drift off.

.

.

.

My eyes opened slowly, the night so pitch-black that I couldn't see a thing. What happened to the moon? Where are the stars? That's when I felt it. I wasn't staring up at a blank and empty sky, I was pressed up against a dark maroon shirt, smelling of something minty and woodsy. I moved my head back, only to realize that my upper body was on top of Eli, his arm slung casually across my back as his limbs sprawled all over. What happened while I was sleeping? Why were we like this? I glanced around, taking physics back into my mind as I realized that both our weight had made both our bodies drift towards the middle of the springy trampoline while we were asleep under the stars. I suddenly became very aware that I was a lot hotter than I was before I was asleep, it felt as if the blanket were suffocating me. If wriggled out of Eli's lazy yet strong grip on my torso as I moved part of the blanket off of me, smiling to myself as I laid back down on his chest, not feeling out of place at all. His chest moved up and down with each deep breath.

"Unghh." He grunted in his sleep, his arm moving the swing over my side again. I laughed softly into his chest, loving the feeling that I hadn't had the honor of experiencing before. I figured that I shouldn't keep telling myself that I don't have feelings for Eli, because I most certainly do. He makes me have this lovely bubbly feeling in the pit of my stomach, a smile automatically find it's way onto my face whenever I thought of him, of all the stupid things he's made me laugh at. I'm not denying it anymore. I probably have more than just 'feelings' for him… I… _I love him. I love Elijah Thomas Goldsworthy._

"_Iloveyou." _I mumbled under my breath into his shirt, so quiet that I barely even heard it myself. My head went up and down as he breathed deeply, and I hesitantly moved my arm to hang over his side like his was over mine. I sighed happily, until I felt his fingers stroking invisible shapes on my side. My breath hitched in my throat, and I lifted my head very slowly until I had full view of his face. His smirk was plastered to his face, his green eyes having the reflection of the moon in them, making me stop and stare for a moment before they caught mine with a look of shock in them.

"Hey." He said quietly, his smirk growing.

"Hi." I squeaked out softly, a blush seemingly never finding it's way onto my face as it should have been when his had never ceased drawing patterns on my side with his fingers.

"I thought about it… you were right." He told me, looking into my eyes meaningfully.

"About what?" Confusion etched it's way onto my face, and he sighed.

"Before you said that there's always a chance for failure, but you have to test the waters to see which of two ways it could go. I get it." He stared straight up, back at the sky, the sliver of moon in a different position than it was before we slept. The crickets chirped again, breaking the silence as I tried to digest what this would lead to. He suddenly turned his head to look me in the eye, a flush warming my body, and I didn't know if it was the flush warming me or the look in his eyes. "You have to take a shot in the dark, otherwise you won't know what will come out of it if you did." His smirk was barely there. I smiled.

"So what you're saying is… I was _right?"_ I quoted him, remembering he had said it once when we walked out of a movie theater. He chuckled, and I mentally cursed myself as I realized that my smugness had ruined the moment.

"Oh, so you're mocking me now?" He said into the air, and it made me laugh. Then all the seriousness returned. "How will you know if the outcome will be worth your while unless you try?" He said, moving his face closer to mine. My heart skipped a beat, his intentions were clear as he paused every few seconds to really look deep into my eyes. While I was staring into his green eyes, I finally closed the distance myself and crashed my lips onto his. They moved rapidly together at once, his hand moving to my lower back and sprawling itself out to push me closer to him, my skin tingling through my shirt as he hand rested there.

_I'll never underestimate the power of wishing on an airplane ever again. _

So I continued moving my lips over his, the stars twinkling above us as I smiled into our kiss, those crickets chirping and cricking as Eli and I took our shots into the dark, taking that chance that we've both finally mustered enough courage to take.

And I hope I never have to take it back.

_**The End.**_

**Did you like it, love it, or hate it? Please write a review and PM me if you have any ideas you want me to write about, because chances are, I'll probably love the idea. Hi Kami. **

**-Emmy.**


End file.
